


Dearest

by alysurr



Series: For the First Time [2]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: ? - Freeform, Baking, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Military Draft, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-30
Updated: 2020-11-30
Packaged: 2021-03-09 17:54:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27800329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alysurr/pseuds/alysurr
Summary: An afternoon of baking turns into a sweet moment between Sea Hawk and Mermista, only to be interrupted by some bad news that has Mermista really thinking about how much Sea Hawk means to her.
Relationships: Mermista/Sea Hawk (She-Ra)
Series: For the First Time [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2032615
Comments: 5
Kudos: 16





	Dearest

They’d spent most of the afternoon inside. Sea Hawk had shown up on her doorstep that morning, unexpected as always, but welcome all the same. He was holding a brown paper bag and announced that he was going to teach her how to make bread. She didn’t really understand why he suddenly wanted to do that, but by now she was used to his antics and, hey, it was better than reading over and signing documents all day.

Or so she thought. Baking bread required so much waiting, and Mermista was not a patient person in any sense of the word. 

They had started a fight with the flour that would have the maid grumbling and cursing under her breath at them later, and the pair had smudges of the white powder on their faces and clothes, but now Sea Hawk was focused as he kneaded the dough. 

“Now it goes in the oven? I thought we were gonna put cinnamon in it, too...”

“Nope, we have to let it rise still.” Sea Hawk took the bowl he’d mixed the dough in, placing the dough on a linen cloth inside and then covering it with another, setting it in the window he’d seen the chef use for the same purpose before. In the summer, Salineas was hot and humid enough it might as well be a sauna. Perfect conditions for dough to rise. His mom would love it. “Then we add the cinnamon,  _ then _ we gotta let it rise again.”

“How long does  _ that _ take?”

“I kind of got used to going by appearance, not time? So as long as it takes,” Sea Hawk grinned, popping a few leftover raisins in his mouth. 

Mermista buried her face in her arms with a groan. 

“Have you ever heard the saying that good things come to those who wait?” Sea Hawk asked, squeezing Mermista’s shoulder. She grumbled something only he could hear, making him snicker. Still, he managed to keep her entertained with stories of the last few months’ adventures, and it wasn’t long before she was mixing butter, cinnamon and sugar to make the filling while Sea Hawk spread a thin layer of flour on the counter and stretched the dough out over it.

Mermista poured the cinnamon mixture over the dough and used a pastry brush to spread it evenly. Once she was satisfied with her work, Sea Hawk rolled it tightly into a loaf while Mermista coated the inside of a loaf-sized pan with butter. It was only then that he turned on the oven, covering the dough-filled pan with the linen and returning it to the window while it heated up. 

He still wasn’t quite sure what to make of their relationship. It wasn’t like he was in Salineas that frequently, anyways, a handful of times a year. Sometimes he’d make a detour to visit when he found himself in Seaworthy, and if he and Mermista happened to be in Snows at the same time, they’d meet up and have dinner or do something. 

Back when they shared their first kiss together, the Princess was already fairly reserved and aloof, sarcastic but not outright mean. Now at the head of her kingdom, she was more distant than ever under the stress and pressure, and her sarcastic teasing became more pointed as she became more easily irritated. He knew things weren’t going great in Salineas. The Horde had attacked a number of times now, each one of them when he was too far away to protect her or at least fight by her side if they stormed the castle. Bars brought out loose lips, from citizens who dissented her and naval soldiers who lacked respect for her. He always defended her, but he was a teenager and he wasn’t even a Salinean citizen, so he was blown off more often than not. 

Mermista didn’t discuss any of that with Sea Hawk. Other than comments about how annoying the older men leading the city-states could be, or how boring paperwork was, she avoided any talk of ruling with him, the same way they skirted around talking about her asshole of a father. 

“Ughhh I just want to chill and not think about work,” she’d groan before changing the subject. She preferred to carry the burden on her own, and that was a wall Sea Hawk could not break through.

Sea Hawk wasn’t the type of person who was afraid to speak their mind, but he was a bit apprehensive to ask Mermista what they were to each other now. He feared what her answer might be, but even more so feared she’d just send him away. 

As he turned away from the window, though, she was leaning against the counter with a perfect eyebrow cocked and a smirk. 

“What?” Sea Hawk asked, mirroring her expression.

“C’mere,” Mermista said, boosting herself up so she was sitting on the counter now. 

Sea Hawk approached her apprehensively, and ever-so-impatient Mermista leaned forward to grab his wrists and pull him to her once he was close enough, placing his hands on her hips. Then her arms were around his neck and she was kissing him, her thighs on either side of his hips, ankles locked around him. 

Yes, Mermista was absolutely gorgeous, with a beautiful bronze complexion and big eyes the color of ocean amber that sparkled with the same intensity. But Sea Hawk, respectful as he was, well, he had eyes, and Mermista? Mermista was very, very hot. A lifetime in the water had given her gorgeous muscles that only accentuated her curvy figure and made her hips and thighs even more enticing.

And right now? He was pressed up against those hips and those thighs were wrapped around him as he found her tongue in his mouth, all in a matter of seconds, and he didn’t have any time to prepare, and, fuck, wow, this was so good, why was she so good? He somehow managed to pull her even closer, thanking Neptune that the counter was tall enough that she couldn’t feel the tightness he was suddenly experiencing in his pants. She was wearing thin linen shorts and a loose t-shirt to combat the summer heat, and it had already been doing things to Sea Hawk since he’d arrived a few hours ago. This? This was another level. 

He moved his hands up and down her sides, caressing the small of her back and keeping a respectful distance from anything too inappropriate. They rarely talked about the kisses they shared, they’d never talked about where she wanted his hands, and he didn’t want to push her too far. 

Sea Hawk treated Mermista so differently than anyone else. First as a fisherman, then as a sailor and soon to be a captain of his own, Sea Hawk had been in nearly every city that lined the coasts, from the Northern Reach to Salineas and beyond. The older sailors on his crew dragged him to bars and clubs and he’d have the time of his life drinking and bullshitting with them, until he’d see a pretty face he wanted to get to know better. They’d end up somewhere private and secluded and really get to know each other. The next day, he’d be gone, off to another adventure, to another bar’s bathroom or between another person’s sheets.

He’d never hid his activities from Mermista, but they didn’t go out of their way to talk about them either. 

Mermista wasn’t a prude, she wasn’t particularly saving herself for anything special, but how many opportunities did a Princess really get to date? Her dad made an effort to marry her off after she turned sixteen and before he fucked off, but Mermista just wasn’t interested in any of the potential suitors. She’d thought at one point she might have wanted to kiss Perfuma when they were a little younger, but when the opportunity arrived she realized it just felt weird. 

She and Sea Hawk, however, had always had this weird bond to each other. She’d push him away under a veil of irritation and then they’d end up drawn to each other again eventually. It reminded her of the way magnets pushed and pulled at each other, depending on what end you were pointing where. Overall, Sea Hawk was always in an optimistic and bubbly mood, a positive. Mermista flip-flopped between positive and negative so often it even pissed  _ her _ off, she didn’t know why he was so willing to deal with it. She’d been grumpy that morning, exhausted and drained from spending most of yesterday working on the Sea Gate. 

And somehow Sea Hawk managed to time his visit perfectly, with something they could do that wasn’t draining, even if it could be a little boring. But kissing him? Kissing him was anything but boring. 

Unfortunately they were interrupted by the entrance of a guard, who cleared their throat before awkwardly saying, “...your majesty…”

Mermista pulled back, unhooking her legs from Sea Hawk immediately and pushing him away. She raised her brows at the young guard, who was probably only twenty and definitely faltered under her glare. “Yes? I thought I asked to not be disturbed today,” she frowned, crossing her arms over her chest. 

“Yes, your majesty, I am terribly sorry to disturb you, but General Seaver is requesting your attendance at an emergency meeting.” 

Mermista sighed, sliding off of the counter onto the floor. Other than a slight flush to her cheeks, she seemed unaffected by the intrusion. It was the interruption that was irritating her.

“Go. I’ll finish this up,” Sea Hawk said. “And you’ll have something to look forward to coming back to.” 

“Okay…” Mermista said, trying to hide her disappointment. “Tell the General that I’ll be there shortly. I’m obviously not dressed for a meeting. You’re dismissed.” 

“Understood, your majesty.” The young guard nodded, glancing between the two of them before exiting the room. 

“‘Kay, guess I’ll be back later. You can chill in my room if it ends up taking a while.” 

“Okay, dearest.”

Mermista cocked an eyebrow at the pet name, but she didn’t say anything before she followed the guard out of the kitchen. Sea Hawk didn’t care, he was riding on his own personal high. It tasted like peach chapstick.

Mermista arrived at the war room in the naval base half an hour later, dressed like a true queen and free from any smudges of flour on her person. She held her head high and walked with a purpose, all of the higher-up military professionals in the room standing until she sat down first and motioned for them to sit, leaving only the General standing for his debriefing.

“Your grace, there has been a tragedy.” 

Mermista tried to keep a straight face as he described the events of the night before, a Horde attack on their northern coastal city of Baymuse. They managed to take out three of the navy’s ships, and all of the soldiers and military officials aboard them. 

“How many casualties?” Mermista asked, not sure if she really wanted to know the number. 

“The ships each had fifty to a hundred soldiers on board,” the General said. “We aren’t sure the exact numbers just yet. Some of our sailors happened to be in the town, but parts of the town were ambushed as well.”

“...and civilian deaths?”

“At least four dozen, your grace.” 

Mermista nodded. 

“I know we had this discussion before and you were against it, but with such a large hit to our numbers, your highness, I respectfully request that you reconsider opening the draft to all able-bodied males between the ages of seventeen and thirty.”

Mermista cringed inwardly at the idea of sending her citizens, many of them barely older than she was, to a war that they hadn’t volunteered to fight in. To a war that they didn’t ask for, that their parents fought and died in. How many children would grow up without parents? How many families would lose their children? 

The Horde was closing in and staging attacks more often, and more frequently than before. They hadn’t attacked the Sea Gate since the attack that her mother perished in, but with them drawing closer each day, well, it was only a matter of time. 

But Salineas hadn’t forced a draft to the navy since before she was born. They went over numbers, and options, and statistics, the conversation lasting until the sun dipped low in the sky.

“Can I make an amendment?” 

“Your highness, it’s your call.” 

Mermista swallowed the lump in her throat, making a decision that she hoped would be the right one. “I will open the draft, to all able-bodied men between the ages of twenty and twenty-five. We will also provide a five-percent raise to the salaries of the enlisted, and I’d like to also increase the healing budget and the death benefit for the families of those who we have lost, but I need to look over the numbers. I will make a formal announcement in five days time.” 

“Thank you, your grace. I hope you know that I stand behind your decisions, and if it is any comfort, I think you have made the right one.” 

“Thank you for your time, General Seaver.” 

It had started to rain as she was escorted by her guard back to the castle, something she’d consider a bad omen if she hadn’t felt the rain approaching all day. The sky finally opened up with a crack of thunder, and Mermista was almost surprised to see Sea Hawk sitting on the floor of her bedroom when she entered it. 

She thought maybe he would have gotten bored and left, but he was just relaxed, reading a book with his ankles crossed. 

“Hey, gorgeous,” he said as she entered the room, pressing a piece of paper between the pages and setting the book aside before standing up. “What’s wrong?”

Mermista shrugged as she closed the distance between them. “It’s raining,” she said. “Wanna spend the night? I don’t want to send you out in a storm.” 

“I’d like that,” Sea Hawk grinned. “The bread came out beautifully, by the way.” 

Mermista’s mouth felt dry, the meeting making her all-but-forget about their afternoon baking activities. “Can we try it in the morning? I’m not really hungry.” 

“Of course! I’ll make Snows Toast with it. It’ll be delicious.” 

It never really mattered whether or not Sea Hawk was a citizen of Salineas before, but Mermista was now even more grateful he wasn’t as she laid next to him in her bed. He could be clumsy and irresponsible and was far too thick-headed and impulsive, joining the navy without a choice was sure to be certain death for her favorite idiot. She snuggled a little closer to him, throwing her arm around him and burying her face in his back. 

Maybe it wasn’t fair that she’d basically made the choice to send a bunch of her citizens to war today while she was keeping Sea Hawk out of it. But she had already lost so much, she wasn’t going to lose him, too.


End file.
